After defeating Mars
"Can you move?"
"I've recovered quite a bit!"
"Aaaagh! My robe!"
"Vanessa can fix it when we get back~"
"That should do it."
"That binding spell kind of looks like a torture device, doesn't it?"
"A-a torture device?! This is a sturdy binding spell!"
Munch, munch, munch.
"More importantly, is that binding spell really secure?"
As Asta chewed on a stamina-restoring herb, he asked the question in a way that bruised Klaus's pride.
"Of course it is! It's not loose enough for an injured person to break free! Look! I even took his Grimoire!"
"Don't be so prickly~"
"We arrived here first and won the battle, but I'll make a special exception and allow you into the treasure chamber as well!"
"Why are you acting so high and mighty, Four-Eyes? Thanks a lot, you jerk!"
"But how are we supposed to get into the treasure chamber?"
"Huh?"
Everyone stared blankly at my question.
It made sense. The door sealing off the treasure chamber didn't seem to have any special mechanism. Of course, that was because of the strange script carved into it.
"There's probably a password or something somewhere..."
"Come on! Think, Four-Eyes!"
"Shut up!"
While the two continued bickering, Luck stepped forward and began analyzing the door with his Mana.
"This door seems to be made of magic, so why doesn't Asta just cut it down? Whoosh~"
"There's no way it'll open that easily just by—"
"Hyaaaah!"
Bang!Sssshhh...
The instant Asta cut through it, the door split apart as though it were a physical object, then dissolved into particles of light.
And beyond it lay—
"Whoa! This is amazing! It's a treasure chamber!"
Just as Asta said, the room truly lived up to the name of a treasure chamber. Gold and silver treasures, jewels, and magical tools were piled everywhere.
Excited by the sight, everyone began touching things to their hearts' content.
"Yay, Asta~"
"Luck came out!"
"Is this something like Marx's Memory Magic?"
"Marx?"
"It's nothing."
Yuno seems to be getting drawn in by the wind spirit, just like in the original... Should I look around some more too?
"You idiots! Don't touch things carelessly! They could be magical tools of national-treasure grade!"
"So what if they are? It's not like they'll wear out."
"The moment you break one, we're finished!"
"Yeah, yeah~"
"Yuno?"
A light like the one from the Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony poured out of the scroll Yuno held. Then, in an instant, it vanished.
"What was that light just now?"
"I'm not sure..."
No one else seemed to know, but I could feel it clearly.
A tiny power of wind had appeared near Yuno.
Maybe because they didn't know what it was yet, no one else seemed to notice.
"Ow, ow, ow! Why are you pulling me, Nero?"
"Maybe she wants to tell you something, like when she helped us find the way earlier?"
"You think so...? Then is there something here?"
The Demon-Dweller Sword should probably be here—
...?!
"That Mana...! Everyone, get back!"
"Ugh! That was close!"
"Aah!"
"Guys!"
Yuno, Klaus, and Luck—the three most combat-oriented fighters aside from Asta, Noelle, Mimosa, and me—were restrained by mineral magic so completely that they couldn't even bring out their Grimoires.
"[Flame Recovery Magic: Phoenix Robe]."
"I'll put out those flames!"
Just as Mars rushed toward Noelle—
Smack!
"Move!"
I shoved Noelle aside.
Bang!
And took the attack in her place.
"Urgh...!"
My arm bent completely the wrong way... Healing this is going to take a lot out of me...
"Kadeeel! You bastard!"
"I've figured out your ability. If that sword can destroy any magic, then what about magic faster than your sword?
[Mineral Creation Magic: Harpe]."
Fwoooosh!
Countless blades created by Mars's magic began raining down on Asta.
Asta—
Bang!
"Ghh... Aaaagh!"
Bang! Clang! Tang!
He knocked away the first few attacks, but the barrage eventually blew him back. He crashed through the wall Nero had pointed at earlier.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine... My arm's completely broken, but I can bear it."
"If your arm is broken, you're not fine!"
"I'll heal you!
[Plant Recovery Magic: Magic Flower Guidepost].
It's the strongest healing spell I can use!"
"It feels much better. Thanks."
"C-compared to you saving me..."
"We're comrades, aren't we?"
"Pardon?"
"Your face is red, Mimosa. Are you all right?"
"It's nothing, Noelle!"
"More importantly, I think we need to focus on them."
"...I only need myself... I have powerful magic... Someone without Mana is weak... The weak aren't needed... The weak should disappear...!"
"I have to... stop him!"
"What can you possibly do in that state?!"
I'm not even sure I can cast a single spell like this... but still!
Fwap, fwap, fwap!
Asta instantly knocked away Mars's mineral blades with a one-handed sword.
In his hand was the Demon-Dweller Sword, once pure white but now stained black.
"I'm your opponent!"
He moved more swiftly with the one-handed sword, batting away Mars's blades, but as long as that recovery magic existed, he couldn't win.
"Asta..."
"Kadel! What about your injury?"
"I can handle it...! More importantly, you still haven't beaten him?
That's not like you... Give that bastard a good punch to the face...!"
...? My Mana disappeared for an instant?
"Yeah! Leave it to me! I'll hit him with enough for both of us!"
That sword takes my Mana too? It can even borrow the power of Time Magic? What an absurd weapon...
"Get out of my way. I'll wipe them all out!"
"I won't let you! I don't have any Mana...! But I do have comrades!"
Shing!
With a sound that split the air, an invisible, gleaming slash flew from Asta's black sword and struck Mars.
What was that? He doesn't have any Mana...!
Klaus was completely flustered by Asta's unknown power.
A slash infused with Time Magic Mana...! Did he borrow Kadel's Mana?
Luck calmly analyzed what had happened in that brief instant.
Mars's Phoenix Robe vanished as though it had never been activated in the first place.
"I don't really get it, but I did it!"
"Asta, you...! Your stomach!"
"...Gah!
I... got hit..."
"Asta!"
Mars's attack, which we had thought had already defeated him, had pierced through Asta's abdomen.
"No...! A half-baked weakling like you can't defeat me!
Die!"
"Astaaa!"
In that moment, Yuno shattered the restraints that no one else had been able to break.
None of the spells in my Grimoire can make it in time!
I can't let him die here!
Then—
"...?"
Is that Bell?
Time was clearly moving incredibly slowly, yet I could see her.
The wind spirit Bell let out a breath, almost like a sigh.
Kraaaash!
In an instant, Mars's armor and Levatain were both shattered. His Mana came to a complete stop.
"Did Yuno defeat him...? How...? The magic is gone! This time, he's really down! We beat him!"
"I'm sure I saw a little girl just now..."
"A little girl? You're exhausted and seeing things. Go get some proper rest."
"Your name was Mimosa, wasn't it?"
"Y-yes?!"
"Could you take care of the friend lying over there? I think I've recovered enough."
"O-of course!"
Rumble...!
Whether it was the force of Yuno's final attack or Asta drawing the sword, the dungeon began to collapse.
"The dungeon is collapsing!"
"[Wind Creation Magic: Heavenly Wind Ark]!
Everyone, get on! We're getting out of here!"
"Mimosa, take care of Asta!"
"Yes!"
"I'll lend you my Mana if you need it, so focus only on healing him!"
"Yes! I understand!"
"Ugh... that guy..."
"Please conserve your strength...!"
"Save... him too...!"
"What? What are you talking about? He's an enemy mage from a hostile country who tried to kill us!"
"We... came to conquer the dungeon... not to kill our enemies..."
Even with his body on the verge of collapse, Asta wanted us to save Mars.
"No, it's okay."
Just like in the original, Lotus—the source of that faint Mana I've been sensing this whole time—will probably save him.
"What... do you mean, Kadel? If we leave him there...!"
"It's not that. The Mana I've been sensing nearby this whole time... I think that old man who ran away came back to save him.
So close your eyes and get some rest for now."
"Okay... thanks..."
"No need to thank me for that."
"More importantly, Luck! Could you guide us?!"
"Yeah! Leave it to me! Turn right here!"
"[Steel Creation Magic: Steel Rain of Arrows]!"
"[Lightning Creation Magic: Thunder God's Orb]!"
"[Time Restraint Magic: Chrono Stasis]!
There's no end to them! But we're getting out, no matter what!"
"Got it!"
At my shout, everyone answered together and picked up the pace.
Boom!
"We made it!"
"Asta is all right, isn't he?"
"Yes! His recovery is unbelievable!"
"Thank you for saving Asta."
"O-oh, no! I might not have had enough Mana if I'd been alone... I'm the one who was helped..."
"Then I guess we're even~"
"Even?"
"It's just an expression."
"Being tough is this guy's only good point."
"What did you say, Yuno?! I have plenty of good points besides that!
I can't die until I become the Wizard King!"
"Who are you to say that? I'm the one who'll become the Wizard King!"
"I'll become the Wizard King...!"
"You three... I'm truly sorry!"
Klaus suddenly apologized and pulled the three of us into an embrace.
It looked suffocating enough with two people in the original... I'm going to die like this...!
"I'm ashamed of myself for looking down on you as commoners!
You are all splendid Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom!"
"Senior... I can't breathe."
"Four-Eyes... too tight..."
"What? After all I—"
"Still, I guess having someone acknowledge you isn't such a bad feeling."
"Yeah! Besides, you turned out to be a good Four-Eyes!"
"What does that even mean, you fool?!"
"Klaus is simply too earnest, that's all."
"Pfft!"
"What are you laughing at, you brat?!"
"It's just... after risking our lives in that desperate battle, the first thing we talk about once we get out is your glasses."
"Well... that's true, but..."
"So! Does that mean we've completed the dungeon conquest?"
"Come to think of it, didn't we forget to bring anything back?"
"I grabbed a few things."
I had quietly tucked them away before we left and loaded them onto Yuno's magic.
"This should be enough that we won't get scolded when we report back."
"Oh! This much will be a tremendous help to the Clover Kingdom!"
"Then let's head back~ Everyone, you all worked really hard!"
And so, the dungeon conquest—an ordeal that had felt both terribly long and shorter than a single day—came to an end.
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